My old man spent 31 years with those jokers…I do remember riding on the good ol’ Duck! As amatter of fact I need to ask about the pic he has of a 727 with the duck…Classic!!
They still bring them to IAD, I see them all the time! The 9 that is.
Not to get into a pissing contest about the matter, but it’s not implied. Your post could just as easily mean something along the lines of “Oh, look how much better the same type of aircraft looks in NWA livery!”.
The aircraft registration isn’t mentioned in the caption nor is it particularly legible in either photo, so it’s not obvious that it’s the same aircraft in both photos.
I was one of those who thought it was the same aircraft. The fact that the two pictures were together and the wording used by nenyedi (“It’s amazing what a little paint can do.”) led me to believe that.
I also checked the original of the 2nd photo found here (medium size) and here (large size). I can clearly see the registration on the first picture so there was no need for me to look that up.
Sorry to start the confusion.
I simply was amazed at how NWA can repaint these 40 year old birds to look almost the same as “more modern” aircraft. I bet that many of the travelers would never be aware that the aircraft they are traveling on is potentially older than they are!